Analysis of trace levels of impurities and hydrogen isotopes in helium purge gas using gas chromatography for tritium extraction system of an Indian lead lithium ceramic breeder test blanket module

Abstract

In the fusion fuel cycle, the accurate analysis and understanding of the chemical composition of any gas mixture is of great importance for the efficient design of a tritium extraction and purification system or any tritium handling system. Methods like laser Raman spectroscopy and gas chromatography with thermal conductivity detector have been considered for hydrogen isotopes analyses in fuel cycles. Gas chromatography with a cryogenic separation column has been used for the analysis of hydrogen isotopes gas mixtures in general due to its high reliability and ease of operation. Hydrogen isotopes gas mixture analysis with cryogenic columns has been reported earlier using different column materials for percentage level composition. In the present work, trace levels of hydrogen isotopes (∼100 ppm of H and D ) have been analyzed with a Zeolite 5A and a modified γ-Al O column. Impurities in He gas (∼10 ppm of H , O , and N ) have been analyzed using a Zeolite 13-X column. Gas chromatography with discharge ionization detection has been utilized for this purpose. The results of these experiments suggest that the columns developed were able to separate ppm levels of the desired components with a small response time (<6 min) and good resolution in both cases.

Lithium Isotope Electromigration Separation in an Ionic Liquid–Crown Ether System: Understanding the Role of Driving Forces

“…The column exchange process is the only industrial method that can achieve a high separation coefficient of 1.03–1.06 for lithium isotopes, but it is environmentally hazardous because of the mercury involved . More methods have been explored, such as extraction, − chromatography, , membrane separation, , and electromigration. , The separation effect of lithium isotopes varies in different systems. In recent years, ionic liquids were introduced into the organic systems for separating lithium isotopes by extraction.…”